Legal calm of the CaspianThe positions of the countries of the "Caspian five" have not changed sincethe last summit, so not much progress from the 35th meeting of the special group in Astana can be expected, VK was told by Vladimir Sazhin, experton Iran and senior research fellow at the Oriental Studies Institute of theRussian Academy of Sciences, and the deputy head of the Central AsiaDepartment of the CIS Institute, Andrei Grozin.Vladimir Sazhin noted that Iran, which before the breakup of the USSR hadonly 12% of the Caspian, has taken the toughest position. "Iran's approach isarithmetical - if there are now 5 countries around the Caspian, each shouldhave 20%, so Iran's part should increase, and its border should gonorthward. But other countries disagree. Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstanhave an agreement and they have no problems about the division of theCaspian. The Iranian project does not suit them, especially Azerbaijan, becausethen Azerbaijani hydrocarbon sources go under Iranian jurisdiction,"the expert said.Kazakhstan, in its turn, Andrei Grozin noted, is counting on the finaldivision being based on the agreement with Russian and Azerbaijan."Kazakhstan is now de facto the biggest owner of that legally, partiallyorganized piece of the Caspian cake, and is against the Iranian approachbecause then it would lose a significant part of the shelf and the seabed," Grozinexplained.Therefore, the positions of the countries do not help to advance thenegotiations. "As for Russia, it is generally satisfied with the currentdivision, because it poses no obstacles to its economic or militaryactivity. Of course, some questions such as defense or environmentalproblems could see certain agreements, but the final delineation will takedecades," Sazhin believes.
The positions of the countries of the "Caspian five" have not changed sincethe last summit, so not much progress from the 35th meeting of the special group in Astana can be expected, VK was told by Vladimir Sazhin, experton Iran and senior research fellow at the Oriental Studies Institute of theRussian Academy of Sciences, and the deputy head of the Central AsiaDepartment of the CIS Institute, Andrei Grozin.
Vladimir Sazhin noted that Iran, which before the breakup of the USSR hadonly 12% of the Caspian, has taken the toughest position. "Iran's approach isarithmetical - if there are now 5 countries around the Caspian, each shouldhave 20%, so Iran's part should increase, and its border should gonorthward. But other countries disagree. Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstanhave an agreement and they have no problems about the division of theCaspian. The Iranian project does not suit them, especially Azerbaijan, becausethen Azerbaijani hydrocarbon sources go under Iranian jurisdiction,"the expert said.
Kazakhstan, in its turn, Andrei Grozin noted, is counting on the finaldivision being based on the agreement with Russian and Azerbaijan."Kazakhstan is now de facto the biggest owner of that legally, partiallyorganized piece of the Caspian cake, and is against the Iranian approachbecause then it would lose a significant part of the shelf and the seabed," Grozinexplained.
Therefore, the positions of the countries do not help to advance the negotiations. "As for Russia, it is generally satisfied with the currentdivision, because it poses no obstacles to its economic or militaryactivity. Of course, some questions such as defense or environmentalproblems could see certain agreements, but the final delineation will takedecades," Sazhin believes.
